What Comes Next for Notre Dame After Brutal Upset Loss to NIU?

How can the Irish begin to recover from the devastating loss to Northern Illinois?

Northern Illinois running back Gavin Williams (21) attempts to break free from Notre Dame's defense during a NCAA college football game between Notre Dame and Northern Illinois at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in South Bend. | Michael Clubb / USA TODAY NETWORK

In the short term, Notre Dame needs to get back to work

Notre Dame entered the game against Northern Illinois at home as nearly a 30-point favorite and got outplayed and outcoached by the Huskies the entire afternoon.

This was a stunning loss that has the whole Notre Dame community in a state of shock. Where do the Irish go from here? Purdue, technically speaking.

In the short term, the best thing that can happen for this team is to get to the Purdue game as quickly as possible to get a chance to knock this losing taste out of their mouths. It's going to be a long, miserable week in South Bend. Can the team turn that anger and frustration into a win in West Lafayette?

Notre Dame paid Northern Illinois $1.4 million to play in South Bend today.

The Huskies just beat the #5 Fighting Irish 16-14—the biggest upset in NIU HISTORY. pic.twitter.com/wDd5IqiDFZ

— Front Office Sports (@FOS) September 7, 2024

The longer-term view has a less clear path

It's fairly remedial to suggest that the best thing for the players is to get back to practice and then back on the field again. That's a very straightforward concept.

What is less clear is to analyze what caused this nightmare and and how to prevent it from happening ever again. Certainty that the Freeman era is heading in the right direction has never been suddenly more in doubt.